This week I was able to follow the plan exactly, which gave me four days in a row of running. The mileage was very low, both on each individual day and in total, but I definitely could feel the effects Sunday morning, the fourth day.
When I trained with Hal Higdon's plan in the past, I ran five days a week, but never more than three days in a row. (Mondays I swam, and Fridays were rest days.) It'll be interesting to see how the fatigue continues to build as the mileage increases. This coming week I've modified the plan because of the Hatfield McCoy Marathon, but I figure running 26.2 miles makes up the difference. I think week four is going to really be a good indicator of how I'll feel as training progresses.
The only real negative of the week was my peroneal tendonitis flaring up. This started up during the Med City Marathon, I think from a combination of old shoes and too much camber. The rail trail I do most of my training on does have a slight camber, and now that I've been focusing on staying off the camber, it's cleared up again. Just in case, I've made an appointment to see the chiro Thursday. I'd hate for anything run the marathon.
Wednesday, June 4
rest
Wednesday was by far my busiest day of the month, so I enjoyed my rest day, even though it was National Running Day. I did a belated celebration by pretending I was back in high school and filling out the Twitter Runchat questions like they were a Xanga survey. Don't pretend those weren't awesome.
Thursday, June 5
3 mi easy, 10:56 min/mile
core work
Friday, June 6
3 mi easy, 10:58 min/mile
core work
Saturday, June 7
3 mi easy, 10:43 min/mile
core work
23 mi bike
I did this run in the morning before the Eager Feet Parents came to celebrate Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Eager Feet Dad's birthday. I think running early instead of late threw me off my game and hindered my ability to pace myself well.
The bike obviously was not prescribed, but it was awesome to show off the rail trail and explore it at a much faster pace than usual. I actually missed a landmark we were going to stop at on the way out because I'm so used to it taking significantly longer to get there.
Sunday, June 8
4 mi easy, 10:57 min/mile
core work
3 mi hike
This was the first day my legs felt dead when I started my run. I'm sure the long (for me) bike the day before didn't help any, but I had felt the fatigue building throughout the week anyway. Once I pushed through the first mile, I felt much better. It was actually pretty awesome because no one was on the trail (my town has a phenomenon known as "Church-o'clock", where no one ventures outside before 11 AM on Sunday because of services), so I had the place to myself and saw a bunny, two deer, and a snapping turtle.
In the early afternoon the EFP and I went to the nature preserve on the edge of town and tried out a three mile trail. We saw only two other parties the whole time, which meant we got to see some cool wildlife. I even checked off turtle species number two for the day!
Monday, June 9
rest
Tuesday, June 10
4 mi easy, 10:59 min/mile
core work
It felt good to get out on the roads again after a rest day. My legs felt much fresher, and the humidity had died down a lot.
Total Miles: 17 mi
Total Time: 3:05:24
Overall, this was a great week! I'm still getting used to my easy pace being faster than a shuffle, as it should be, but I'm no longer scared of failing. (I've just pushed that fear to the first week of July when speedwork comes calling.) It was nice to get some other activities in, especially since they ended up not interfering with my training. It was also good to figure out what seems to be triggering my tendonitis and how to prevent it.
It bothers my OCD tendencies a little bit that I won't be following the plan perfectly this coming week because of Hatfield McCoy, but I know that's silly. I'm super excited for the marathon, and it's more mileage than the plan called for, so it's not as if I'm taking the easy way out!
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